An absent-minded professor's blog.

Black Swan…is painful.

Many of us who love Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake know of how the beautiful princess Odette is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s spell. To break the spell, Odette needs true love, which she does find in the form of a handsome prince. But the sorcerer and his daughter, Odile, trick the prince into believing that Odile is Odette and Odile successfully seduces him. Heartbroken, Odette finds freedom in death. (Of course, the animated Swan Lake I saw as a kid gave me a happy ending so…)

Black Swan revolves around the story of Swan Lake, the ballet. Sweet Nina (Natalie Portman) and alluring Lily (Mila Kunis) compete for the position of the ballerina who plays both Odette the White Swan and Odile the Black Swan. While Nina can channel the White Swan perfectly, the ballet’s director, Thomas (Vincent Cassel), thinks she lacks the passion to dance the Black Swan’s uninhibited routines. As Nina prepares for the daunting role, she ultimately loses herself and lets the Black Swan take over….

Has anyone here ever seen the movie Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓)? A lot of people who’ve seen it agree that it was a very beautiful anime, but they can’t bear to watch it again. I said the exact same thing about Black Swan. This isn’t a tearjerker, though. This is pain in its purest form. I went into the cinema being all bubblegum genki and went out of there with a heavy chest, accompanied by labored breathing and the desire to run a stake through my heart. If you have been feeling depressed, please do not even attempt to watch this.

(Or as my fellow RPGamer Lia would say: “See a feel-good movie afterward.” I turned to The Wallflower for my much needed laughs.)

Director Darren Aronofsky‘s work is a poetic masterpiece, as he made strategic use of visual metaphor to capture the struggling emotions of a tragically disturbed ballerina. Portman’s and Kunis’ acting were just as powerful as the visuals. The emotions they evoked are so raw in their dualities that they just hurt so damn much…

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7 Comments

I just watched Graveyard of the fireflies T.T and that's my least fave Ghibli film I've ever watched, not bec of animation but because of the story. Too tragic for me T.T was planning to watch black swan tonight with my sis, thanks for the warning and review, miss ! 😛

Yup. I know about the aches and pains of ballet dancers, since being on tippy-toes all the time can cause major foot damage. But as with any performing artist, you can get carried away because of a role. Remember what happened to Heath Ledger?

I have to admit I've watched Black Swan last 2010 pa and it was a very amazing viewing experience. I've seen Grave of the Fireflies some years ago and it simply went straight to my list of best films of all time. 🙂

About The Author

Doc B is a crazy cat lady, a former behavioral scientist turned video game producer, and a full professor. She is an INFJ who is married to an INTJ game/software engineer. You can grab a copy of her book by clicking the book thumbnail below.